Cutting Edge Young Talent HK

If you close your eyes and imagine an art collection, I’m sure you (like us!) envision works created through traditional mediums such as oil or acrylic paintings, perhaps a silkscreen print or a classic sculpture, all meticulously displayed against a clean white wall. However, with digital, virtual reality and AI-innovations transforming the way we live our lives – it is no surprise that art is increasingly meeting science and changing the definition of what comprises an artwork.

Meeting these digital innovations head-on, is this year’s Young Talent Hong Kong curator Eric Leung Shiu Kee. Eric is keen to challenge Hong Kong’s collectors to consider expanding their collection repertoire into the exciting realms of new media – which encompasses video, virtual, interactive and computer arts amongst other cutting-edge digital mediums! Because of Eric’s vision, we’re super excited to see this year’s Young Talent exhibition at Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong (17 – 19 May, HKCEC), which will feature the work of eight cutting edge Hong Kong and Chinese artists, all working in the exciting area of new media. Read on to find out more about the artists!

Choy Jam Ming, Zac, Hong Kong

Zac Choy is a Hong Kong-based designer who uses creative research and explorative development to deliver innovative works at the cross section of contemporary art and graphic design. Zac studied Visual Communication at Hong Kong Design Institute before graduating from the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University in 2018. Not restricting his practice to a particular medium, his materials have ranged from a cup to a chair, graphic posters and animation.

Cheng Hung, Dony, Hong Kong

Dony was born in Hong Kong, 1993, graduating from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017 with a Major in Fine Arts. Since her graduation she already participated in several exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the a.m. space and a collaborative exhibition at the chi K11 at space – where she has shown her artwork which focusses on the intermediate between empty spaces and personal places. To create these works Dony explores every corner of the urban cityscape looking for locations and space to breathe, represented in her minimalist cityscapes.

Sun Yujie, Guizhou, China

Born in Guizhou, 1996, Sun has lived in Guangzhou since 1998, graduating from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Sun’s work explores the complexity of identity, and is driven by her emotional responses to the city and studies of people’s sense of belonging to the land and their daily lives.

Wong Pak Hang, Samson, Hong Kong

Award-winning Samson was born in Hong Kong in 1995 and gained a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018. He expresses himself through a combination of digital and 2D mixed media, including photography, video, painting and installation, creating works inspired by everyday life and habitation. Samson believes that humanistic care is more important than artistic poetics, an ethos which has led to his being awarded the Hong Kong Grand Prize of HKISAC - Photography, the Gaylord Chan Painting Award and a scholarship from the Peter Curzon Oram Charitable Trust.

Qian Honglin, China

Graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, 2008, Qian’s work has garnered huge interest in multimedia arts community leading to a 1-year artist-in-residence placement at the ZKM Centre for Art and Media. Qian has exhibited around the world, with her work being sought by private collectors and galleries alike. As an artist from the new generation, he focuses on the theoretical and practical perspectives of creativity. His works include sound, media theories and cultural studies.

Wong Siu Ling, June, Hong Kong

June (b. 1986, Hong Kong) works and lives in Hong Kong. She received a Higher Diploma in Fine Art from Hong Kong Art School in 2014 and graduated from the Hong Kong Art School & RMIT University in 2018, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art (Painting Major). June is inspired by city life and daily living, which thematically drives her creative work – expressed through a combination of moving image and drawing.

Fung Sung Yuen, Gum, Hong Kong

Fung Shun Yuen was born in 1994, Hong Kong, and graduated from the Hong Kong Art School, with a major in photography. His video, animation and mix media installations explore the sense of loss inside of pop-culture and the modern city. Recently, his assemblage artwork, created using downloaded internet images, was exhibited at the 24th ifva Awards in the Media Art Category Finalist Exhibition.

Sikey Wong, Guangzhou, China

Exploring the virtual-reality relationship between society and humans, the interpretive relationship between individuals, groups and their surrounding space – Sikey is fascinated with the uncontrollability of the human spirit. She combines her work with a subjective environmental beauty to present a unique aesthetics judgement. Sikey, from Guangzhou, has recently been active in various exhibitions.

Each of these Young Talents has been selected by Eric for their embracing of new media, but as you can probably tell – thematically each artist has a fascination with the urban landscape and human condition – which is sure to make a fascinating exhibition filled with contrasting viewpoints and expressive styles alike.